What is special about nimbostratus clouds?
Nimbostratus clouds are dark, grey, featureless layers of cloud, thick enough to block out the Sun. Producing persistent rain, these clouds are often associated with frontal systems provided by mid-latitude cyclones. These are probably the least picturesque of all the main cloud types.
What type of cloud is nimbostratus?
Nimbostratus are dark, low-level clouds accompanied by light to moderately falling precipitation. Low clouds are primarily composed of water droplets since their bases generally lie below 6,500 feet (2,000 meters). However, when temperatures are cold enough, these clouds may also contain ice particles and snow.
Are nimbostratus clouds stable or unstable?
Any clouds that form as a result will be thin and horizontal such as cirrostratus, altostratus, nimbostratus, and stratus clouds. All of these cloud types are associated with stable air.
What causes nimbostratus?
Nimbostratus clouds are formed when warm, moist air is gradually lifted over a large area, typically produced by a warm front. With warm fronts, the cloud layer is much more stable, resulting in the formation of nimbostratus clouds.
What is the purpose of a nimbostratus?
Definition: Dark and featureless layer cloud responsible for rainy and snowy weather. Description & Characteristics. Nimbostratus clouds are associated with rainy, dreary days. They’re also responsible for snowy weather.
Where do you find nimbostratus clouds?
Nimbostratus has a diffuse cloud base generally found anywhere from near surface in the low levels to about 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in the middle level of the troposphere. Although usually dark at its base, it often appears illuminated from within to a surface observer.
What is the meaning of cumulonimbus cloud?
cumulonimbus. / (ˌkjuːmjʊləʊˈnɪmbəs) / noun plural -bi (-baɪ) or -buses. meteorol a cumulus cloud of great vertical extent, the top often forming an anvil shape and the bottom being dark coloured, indicating rain or hail: associated with thunderstorms.
What is nimbostratus made of?
At elevations above the freezing level, nimbostratus is largely composed of ice crystals and snowflakes, though embedded thin (supercooled) droplet cloud layers similar to altocumulus clouds are relatively common.
How are cirrostratus clouds formed?
Cirrostratus are sheet-like, high-level clouds composed of ice crystals. These high-level clouds typically form when a broad layer of air is lifted by large-scale convergence. Photograph by: Rauber. Sometimes the only indication of their presence is given by an observed halo around the sun or moon.
What is the altitude of nimbostratus clouds?
The main body of Nimbostratus almost invariably occurs at altitudes between 2 km and 4 km (6 500 ft and 13 000 ft) in polar regions, between 2 km and 7 km (6 500 ft and 23 000 ft) in temperate regions and between 2 km and 8 km (6 500 ft and 25 000 ft) in tropical regions.
What kind of rain does a nimbostratus cloud produce?
A nimbostratus cloud is a multi-level, grey, often dark, amorphous, nearly uniform cloud that usually produces continuous rain, snow, or sleet but no lightning or thunder. WikiMili Nimbostratus cloud Last updated April 23, 2021
Where does nimbostratus occur in a warm front?
Nimbostratus occurs along a warm front or occluded front where the slowly rising warm air mass creates nimbostratus along with shallower stratus clouds producing less rain, these clouds being preceded by higher-level clouds such as cirrostratus and altostratus.
Where does nimbostratus occur on the synop report?
It is coded C M 2 on the SYNOP report. Nimbostratus occurs along a warm front or occluded front where the slowly rising warm air mass creates nimbostratus along with shallower stratus clouds producing less rain, these clouds being preceded by higher-level clouds such as cirrostratus and altostratus.
Is the nimbostratus cloud a stub class article?
Nimbostratus cloud has been listed as a level-5 vital article in Science, Earth science. If you can improve it, please do. This article has been rated as Stub-Class. This article is within the scope of WikiProject Meteorology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Meteorology on Wikipedia.